Reg. No. 97784, code lettering LRSG, a steel barque, classed 100A1, with 3 masts of 78.9 feet, 80 feet, and 79 feet, steel wire and hemp rigging, 3 anchors of 34, 32, and 31 tons and some 270 fathoms of chains, two life boats and two other small boats, 2 decks and 1427 gross register tons. She was built in just 5 months in 1890 by Grangemouth Dockyard Co. and owned by Bank Shipping Co. of Limerick, who also owned the barques Bankhall, Banklands, and Bankleigh, and belonged to the port of Liverpool. Her Managers were W. Just & Co. and her Master was 50 year old George Wyllie. She had a length of 261 feet, a breadth of 37.6 feet, a depth of 21 feet, a poop deck of 33 feet, a forecastle of 25 feet and accommodation for 28 seamen.
Albert Brew served on her as a 23 year old 2nd Mate (Mate's Certificate of Competency No. 037151), joining 19 September 1902, and departing Liverpool 20 September with a crew of only 7 and 5 apprentices, aged 16 to 18 years old. Bankburn made a short stop at Glasgow to sign on another 13 crew members, including the Master's 46 year old wife, 'E. Wyllie', as Stewardess, who was on her first ship, and was paid nothing for the entire journey. Bankburn departed Glasgow 3 October bound for Fremantle in Australia where she remained 3 months, then sailed to Rangoon, Falmouth in Cornwall, England, and on to Antwerp in Belgium, arriving 4 November 1903, where Albert was discharged and shipped back to the United Kingdom.
Her 1903 Crew Agreement is held by the PRO in Kew, England, and her agreements for 1891, 1893-1894, 1896-1902, 1904, and 1906-1907 are held by the Maritime History Archive in Canada. See also Bankburn's crew list for the period September 1902 - November 1903.
| Reg. No. 171245, code lettering VJPD, a twin screw steamer, 100A1, of 6267 gross register tons, with 2 main decks, and a 3rd forward deck, with oil engines, 12 cylinders and 1240hp. She was built in 1937 by Barclay, Curle & Co. of Glasgow for Burns, Philip & Co. Ltd, and designed for the mail service between Australia and Norfolk, Lord Howe, the Solomons, the New Hebrides, Papua and New Guinea. |  |
She had a length of 399 feet, a width of 58.2 feet, a depth of 25.3 feet, and was registered in Sydney, N.S.W. She entered service in 1938 and completed eight voyages by the outbreak of the Second World War. Albert Halewood Brew served on Bulolo on her maiden voyage, from 18 November to 19 December 1938, and on four further voyages, from 20 - 30 January 1939, 31 January to 9 March 1939, 10 March to 17 April 1939, 18 April to 28 May 1939.
At the outbreak of war she was taken over by the Royal Australian Navy and refitted as an Armed Merchant Cruiser at the South African Naval Base at Simonstown. The conversion was completed on 4 January 1940, and she commenced duty as a convoy ship carrying troops and supplies. In April 1942, she was refitted as a Landing Ship Headquarters, and thereafter took part in the invasions of Algiers in 1942, Sicily in 1943, and Anzio in 1944.
She took part in training exercises for D-Day and was visited by King George VI during May 1944, when he reviewed the preparations. On 6 June 1944, Bulolo took part in the landings at Normandy, and remained in the vicinity to direct operations. She also saw service in Malaya and Singapore during late 1945, and was returned to Burns and Philp in December 1946. In May 1968 she was sold to the China Steel Corporation in Taiwan for scrapping.
| Built by Evans, Deakin & Co. of Brisbane in 1941, this Minesweeper / Corvette was launched on 1 December 1941. She was employed in the Pacific theatre and escorted several convoys, being active especially around New Guinea, and in the Solomon Sea as an anti-submarine patrol. Her pennant number was J231. |  |
| Albert Halewood Brew, 'Temporary Lieutenant' (E) R.A.N.R., served on the Bundaberg for the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve, from 25 November 1943 to 23 July 1944, a period of some 8 months. | |